An inspirational community development

Came across The High Line the other day - it's a new park in New York which has been developed through the determination of members of the local community - it looks great and is a wonderful testament to community action. Read what Hamish McRae of The Independent says about it, specifically:

Taking the High Line – lessons in community action from Manhattan

The director of one of New York's great art galleries told me I had to see the High Line. The retired Wall Street banker asked if I had heard about the High Line. And the author with whom I was having dinner said we really have to see the High Line, so let's skip the coffee and go.

The High Line has been open three weeks. It is a public park built on the tracks of a disused elevated old freight railway line running down lower Manhattan, a couple of blocks in from the East River. You start in the Meat Packing District, you climb up the steps on to the newly laid walkway – past designer benches, plants and amid designer-dressed people – for a mile and a half north through the old warehouses and new loft apartments. The next section is being completed now, and while there are doubts about the final section, it may eventually be possible to walk right up to 34th Street, 30 feet above New York.

So New York has a new park in a formerly gritty, but now fashionable, part of the city. It is a classic story of urban regeneration, well-executed, that brings benefits to the local economy and community. But more than that – and very New York – it is also a tale of community action and philanthropy. This was not a municipal project, though it eventually it got the blessing of Mayor Bloomberg and city funding. But, in the early years, it developed when two residents hit on the idea, created a "Friends of the High Line" support group, raised seed funding and drove the idea forward.

There are several lessons. One is that new public space, done well, can revitalise a whole area. Another is that things like this can't happen unless there is political support, and probably public money. But another, which seems to be the most powerful one, is that the best ideas often spring up spontaneously in communities. The former consensus was that the elevated tracks were an eyesore and should be pulled down. But two people had a vision and the city has an exciting new park. Community works.